US company IQ Power Tools fell victim to a business email compromise\n(BEC) fraud scheme. The perpetrators successfully intercepted the\ncompany\u2019s communications, ultimately carrying out a cybercrime that\ncaused losses amounting to billions of rupiah.<\/p>\n
The case was uncovered by the Directorate of Cyber Crime at the\nIndonesian National Police Criminal Investigation Agency (Dittipidsiber\nBareskrim Polri), in synergy with the Federal Bureau of Investigation\n(FBI) and the Indonesian Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis\nCentre (PPATK). The fraud syndicate was masterminded by a Chinese\nnational with the initials CW, who remains at large. Two other\nperpetrators, Indonesian national LPK and Chinese national LJ, were\narrested.<\/p>\n
Head of Sub-Directorate I of Dittipidsiber Bareskrim Polri, Senior\nCommissioner Deddy Supriadi, said the case began when IQ Power Tools\nconducted a trade transaction with a Chinese company, Duro Machinery\nCorp.\u00a0The perpetrators then launched a malware attack on the US\ncompany\u2019s email address.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe modus operandi carried out by this syndicate was that they\ncreated a script containing malware aimed at the victim\u2019s business\nemail,\u201d Deddy said at a press conference at Bareskrim Polri, South\nJakarta, Wednesday (19\/8\/2026).<\/p>\n
Deddy said the malware attack was disguised as a message from the\npartner company. The perpetrators were known to have created a fake\nemail to infiltrate the company\u2019s communications.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the victim\u2019s email responded, the suspects could then see the\ncommunications that emerged between the company in China selling\ncomputer hardware and the victim,\u201d Deddy explained.<\/p>\n
From there, the perpetrators managed to monitor the flow of\ninter-company communications. They then pretended to be the partner to\ndirect the payment transaction.<\/p>\n
Deddy said perpetrator CW then instructed suspect LPK to create the\nlegal entity for a fictitious company named PT Aksesoris Andalan\nBersama. The company was equipped with a bank account in Indonesia to\nreceive the proceeds of the fraud.<\/p>\n
Using the fake email, the perpetrators continued communicating with\nIQ Power Tools regarding the payment transaction. They then directed\nthat the payment be diverted to the account of their subsidiary in\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe suspects then communicated with the victim and informed them\nthat the payment transaction needed to be diverted because they were\nfacing an audit process by the local supervisory commission,\u201d Deddy\nexplained.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo avoid any loss or failure of payment, they provided guidance to\ndivert the payment to their subsidiary in Indonesia. So the perpetrators\nsucceeded in hacking the victim\u2019s email,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
As a result of this crime, IQ Power Tools suffered losses of up to\nUSD 350,325, or approximately IDR 6.2 billion. Investigators managed to\nblock the account of PT Aksesoris Andalan Bersama, which still had a\nbalance of USD 285,859, equivalent to IDR 5 billion.<\/p>\n
The suspects are charged under Article 51 paragraph 1 in conjunction\nwith Article 35 of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law on\nelectronic data manipulation, Article 492 of the Criminal Code on fraud,\nArticles 82 and 85 of Law Number 3 of 2011 on Fund Transfers, and\nArticle 607 of the Criminal Code on money laundering, with a maximum\npenalty of 15 years in prison.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/starting-from-a-malware-attack-how-a-fraud-syndicate-deceived-a-us-company-1787197983", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }